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Well, three cities down and approaching the halfway mark, time is flying. Having boarded the train in Stockholm we were well prepared for the almost five hour journey to Copenhagen. More than enough time to eat a pack of double cream Oreos, watch some TV, catch up on emails (both work and personal) and publish the latest blog entry.
On arrival at Central Station in Copenhagen it was a 15 minute walk to our apartment, the second Airbnb for this trip. This time though it was a little different as rather than an empty furnished apartment rented purely out for Airbnb purposes, this was someone's house. We'd rented the whole apartment though so after letting us in and giving us the quick tour, our host disappeared for the duration of our stay.
The one bed apartment had a small kitchen, was centrally located and had a washing machine so was absolutely perfect for our stay.
However, our timing with public and national holidays in Europe was impeccable, as it was a national holiday which meant that the supermarket next door was closed, as were most shops in the area.
Having stuffed ourselves with Oreos on the train
neither of us felt like a substantial dinner so we heading to a nearby Vietnamese place which had had good reviews on Yelp for a meal of entrees - rice paper spring rolls, wontons, friend spring rolls and meatballs. Quite tasty but still ended up being a rather expensive meal.
Copenhagen is THE most expensive city in Northern Europe and apparently the 15th most expensive city in the world for expatriates, well above even Stockholm and Oslo.
Ironically for us, having just come from Stockholm, was that a cappuccino was about 34 Danish kroner. In Stockholm, it was about 32 Swedish Kroner. Unfortunately, the significantly different conversion rates meant that in Stockholm this equated to about $7 in Copenhagen compared to $5 in Sweden.
Despite the national holiday we managed to find an Aldi style corner store (think pallets on the floor) and pick up some yoghurt, museli and juice for breakfast before heading back to catch up on some washing.
The next morning we walked to Town Hall to pick up another one of the free city walking tours. What I like most about these is that the tour guides work for tips, which means
they are usually more interesting than a paid walking tour, as the guides have to work harder and try to connect with their audience. Plus - I always tip at the end what I think is reasonable and I hope most other people do too.
This time we had a Danish guide - he liked to wave his closed umbrella around rather aggressively, using it to accentuate some of his words. Unfortunately for me the first part of the tour I spent enthralled at his speaking style (rather than the content) puzzled by his CHOICE of ACCENTUATING certain words which I am SURE he was doing to ANNOY people. Either that or it was a WEIRD way of TALKING perhaps as a RESULT of the second language BARRIER. (Editors note: for all the words in caps imagine me almost striking someone with a folded up umbrella).
Anyway Copenhagen is a very picturesque town - with colorful streets and harbors. The perhaps best known Dane is of course Hans Christian Andersen, the fairytale writer.
So the tour stated at Town Hall and took in a few of the main plazas, which being a Friday were taken over with
some type of religious festival. Well, the guide said it was a religious festival but in one area were a lot of people lying on the ground on yoga mats, and in another area were couches with a sign that said 'speed dating' so my guess was more of a hippy/green living festival.
Saw Tivoli Gardens and the Marble Church. Had a chance to see the Danish Royal Palace but it seems that Princess Mary didn't want to see us so we didn't knock on the palace door.
Also spent a little time at Nyhavn harbour which is the picture postcard area which would be well recognised by most people. Lots and lots of people there - guessing because it is the start of the peak season and given how lovely the weather is too.
We also saw the Danish Royal Parliament, the Royal Danish Theatre and the Copenhagen Opera House, designed by the same person as the Sydney Operae House but no where near as interesting/ innovative. Apparently he died before it was finished though.
After the tour we spent a little while wandering around Copenhagen. Strolled down the Strøget shopping mile which is what
you would call the 'main street', goes through all of central Copenhagen and has all the high street shops you would expect.
We found the Lego Store, which didn't have a queue to get in when we arrived but certainly did when we left. Not particularly huge but lots of models, very expensive and areas where you could assemble (and then purchase) your own Lego people. I made several and left them behind - hopefully they will find loving homes or be dismantled for other people.
Grabbed Indian for dinner at a place that was reviewed well on Yelp. Quite tasty, although the naan wasn't the same as what we'd have gotten at home and the Chicken tikka masala wasn't the same either but nonetheless tasty. But the rice and pappadum were exactly what we are used to!
The next morning we had a late start before getting a bus out to the zoo. Copenhagen zoo is considered one of the better zoos in Europe. It is said to house over 3000 animals and 264 species, including elephants, lions, monkeys, bears and kangaroos.
The bus ride was only a short one and, given we had withdrawn
cash and had spent less than we had expected to, the line to buy tickets was also relatively short and quick.
The zoo also had Tasmanian devils - and was actually the first zoo outside of Australia to have successfully bred the animal (two females had seven young). Apparently having the Devils also makes the zoo famous and is a draw card for visitors. We looked at the Devils, mostly asleep and napping given the weather. They are still the only European zoo them too.
One of the reasons the zoo is among the best in Europe is their massive renovation program - since the 1980s they have been replacing cages with enclosures that recreate the animals' natural environments, something that I guess in Australia with much younger zoos we see as 'the norm'.
That being said, I was still somewhat disappointed at the size of some of the enclosures, but I guess it is all part of a continual improvement program. They also pride themselves on being able to see animals such as the seals and polar bears underwater, but the water was that murky you couldn't see much of anything it's the seals and not
a lot of the polar bears.
No surprises but among my favorites of the visit with the Penguins, seals, otters (hours of entertainment), the prairie dogs, the polar bears. The kangaroos were all lazing in the shade and boring, the lions barely opened their eyes and monkeys are always just monkeys. I didn't think the elephants looks very happy. And one of the cheetahs tried to hock up a fur ball. Oh and there were some baby brown bears too which was adorable, playing with each other and rolling around. Well, on the first visit they were. We checked in on them on the way out and they were all asleep and very boring.
There were also pink flamingos too which I think is the first time I have seen them before. And some other strange animals I had not seen before, as well as the Northern Europe animals like reindeer, elk, etc.
For dinner that night we grabbed expensive burgers from a create your own burger place before calling it a night.
The next morning I was up bright and early as I couldn't sleep very well. Left for the airport at around 9:30am after
making sure we left the Airbnb place in a relatively tidy and clean order. At central station we hopped a train. Check in was sooooo much easier with SAS at Copenhagen than it was at Berlin. We self checked in and printed our bag tags, and then scanned and dropped our bags off within minutes.
Security was also a breeze with boarding passes checked electronically by gates as you went through, and there was signage at security saying how much time to allow for screening too (seven minutes when we joined the queue). Also grabbed some lunch and snacks before boarding too.
Next stop: Paris for five nights!
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